An Angel's Prayer
by KateTheFanatic
Summary: Castiel is captured while the brothers are dealing with the aftermath of the Trials, a new angel emerges and the Winchester boys are about to get tangled up in a new adventure, however, the darkness intervenes and one of them may have to pay the ultimate price.


An Angel's Prayer

A/N: Please note that this is one of my first times writing fanfiction, so it may be a little rough around the edges, I apologize for that. This is the first chapter of a fanfiction I hope to be working on for some time, I tried to write the characters like the original writers of Supernatural, I hope I did all right, thanks and enjoy!

**[WARNING]** This fanfiction has fairly mature topics, such as, but not limited too: torture (psychological and physical), sexual references, some mature language, etc. Reader discretion is advised.

**[DISCLAIMER]** I do not own any of these characters or the show that they come from,

**[SPOILER ALERT]** Basically, spoiler alert warning here for about all of Season 9, so, reader discretion is advised.

**[Word Count]** 9,979.

_Italics = _thoughts.

_Underline, Italics_ = texts.

_**Bold, Underline, Italics**_ = Caller ID.

Dean makes his way through the winding, looping forest, listening for any sounds that can mean a monster is on his trail, his eyes have become accustomed to the darkness in the forest. A brisk wind rustles the trees, it makes him jump about a foot in the air.

He realizes that if he's jumping at a tiny wind rustling the leaves that he's been in Purgatory for way too long. He's been alone for way too long, he misses Sammy and all his freakin' nerd rants, he misses Cass, wherever the hell he went and he feels the weight of all of his losses, Mom, Dad, Bobby, Lisa, Ben and everyone else he lost or permanently screwed up.

Suddenly he hears it, the faint snap of a twig somewhere off to his right, his head snaps in that direction. "Come on, you son of a bitch! Come get some!" He yells into the trees. _Why am I taunting creatures that could rip me a new one?_ He starts to question himself until he feels it, the hot breath on the back of his neck.

There is someone or something standing directly behind him and it bites down, into his neck, he hears the sickening sounds of teeth sinking into his flesh, the feel of the... _Fangs! This vamp is leeching off of my blood! _He shouts in his head he tries to break the vampires grasp on him, but he can't, he can't even move. Panic starts to set in, this is how he will die. _I ain't gonna die like this! _His desperation mounting. Then, he wakes up.

His eyes fly open and he sits up, his eyes scan the room, he sees the guns, silver blades and other such weaponry hung up on the walls, he sees the picture of him and his Mom, he's safe in the bunker, in his own room.

He inhales deeply, then exhales slowly, trying to calm himself down. Nightmares of Purgatory have become a sort of a nightly thing by this point, ever since Benny went back, ever since the whole Trials and wingless angels falling from the sky thing, he either had nightmares of freakin' Purgatory or nightmares of Sammy dying in those stupid Trials... He rubs his head, pushing away the dream, well, more like a nightmare.

He slides out of bed, walks into the hallway then makes his way into the bathroom, locking the door behind him, he stares at himself in the mirror, he looks tired, dark circles lay under his piercing green eyes, his skin looks pale and ghost-like. Simply put, he looks like a damn mess.

He rubs his eyes, feeling the weight of exhaustion pour over him, he walks to the shower and turns it on. _One thing at a time_. He thinks, blankly. He quickly showers then covers himself up with a towel, walking back to his room, he gets dressed in a timely fashion, he needs to be as ready for the day as possible, he hasn't worked a case for some time, after basically kicking Cass out because of Zeke, he wants to get his mind off things.

He idly wonders how Cass is doing, he hasn't seen him since he found him at that Gas-N-Sip. He does feel slightly guilty. _Who knows what kind of trouble an ex-angel now human might get into? And this _is _Cass, he tends to not fit in that well with humanity. I might need to check in with him, seeing as he has about a thousand of those God Squad S. chasing him._

By the time Dean finishes getting ready it's almost 8:00. He remembers when he used to sleep in, however, he isn't sure sleeping is really helpful at this point, not with all the crap in his head.

He walks into the main room of the bunker, Sam is nowhere to be seen, probably still sleeping, he decides.

_Well, I should get us some breakfast, I don't wanna cook again, plus all we have is a six-pack of beers, two eggs and a watermelon that went bad about two weeks ago, not even I can make a decent breakfast out of that. _He walks out of the bunker, into the brisk morning air, feeling invigorated when he spots his Impala. _Ah, baby, ain't you a sight for sore eyes. _He unlocks the Impala and slides behind the wheel, feeling much safer, much calmer than he has in months. Then, his phone rings. The caller ID reads _**Castiel**_ he answers the phone immediately.

"Dean?" He hears Cass's voice on the other line, his voice sounds… _If I didn't know better, I would say Cass sounds scared… But that's impossible! Cass never gets scared._ He thinks, slowly opening his mouth to respond. "Yeah, Cass, it's me." He says.

He hears a sigh of relief on the other end. "Listen, I don't have much time here, there's something wrong," Cass says, he almost sounds like he's running. "Huh? Cass, whaddya mean?" He asks, there's no response from Castiel. "Cass? Castiel?" There's a rustle on the other line. "My apologies, it appears they are closing in on me," Cass says, his normally steady voice pierced with fear. Ever since he became human, Cass is pretty easy to scare, but this level of fear? He feels a twinge of worry mixed with panic "Who, er, what is closing in on you?" Dean asks, pleading with him to get to the point.

"I don't know, I sense something is wrong, Dean. I-I need your help." Dean feels his own breathing pick up. "Cass, where are you? Damn it!" No response. "Cass! Come on, answer me!" He almost shouts. _Come on, come on, just answer me, damn it! _"Dean, I'm at a warehouse and I-" Cass's voice is cut off when the unmistakable crackle of the phone being dropped on… Gravel, unmistakably, rings out.

He hears voices on the line, the first one is Cass's. "What is it that you plan to do with me? You cannot win this battle, I believe that was proved last time. This is the very definition of insanity or so I am told." A chuckle from the other side, then silence. The silence is the most terrifying thing he's heard so far.

He waits, his heart beating very loudly. _Come on, Cass, vaporize whatever's after you and pick up the damn phone! Use your damn angel blade on it already! _Then, piercing the silence, a scream, so unmistakably human, so unmistakably Cass, that his heart drops in his chest. That sound… _Damn it!_ He is certain of one thing and one thing only, Castiel is gone.

Sam wakes up in his bed in the bunker, hearing the piercing ringing of his phone, he shakes his head groggily, barely registering the caller ID. "Sammy?" Dean's voice came through the other end sounding panicked, worried. "Dean? What's wrong?" He says, trying to keep the tiredness out of his voice. "Cass, Sammy, it's Cass." There's panic lacing his voice, a certain tremble that's very subtle, but Sam would know it anywhere.

"Dean, what happened? What's wrong with Cass?" Sam asks, rubbing his and repositioning himself on the bed so he's sitting with his legs resting off the side. "He, uh, he called me, said something was wrong, said he was at a warehouse or something, then he dropped his phone and, he uh, he… He screamed, Sam." Dean says. Sam snaps to attention at these words, feeling extremely awake, especially since he can hear the exhaustion in Dean's voice, so real, so tangible it almost hurts him.

"Why are you calling me? Where are you?" Sam asks, standing up, even though his legs feel weak and his head hurts. "I'm just outside of the bunker, listen, Sammy, you gotta track Cass's phone," Dean says, Sam can tell he's slowly coming up with a plan. "Okay, but what're you gonna do, Dean?" Sam asks, moving into the main area of the bunker, the phone still pressed up against his ear.

"I'm gonna hit every warehouse in the area searching for Cass's feathery ass." Sam just shakes his head, sighing slightly. "Okay, fine, but shouldn't you, I don't know, try calling him again? Or stay at the bunker and-" Sam is cut off by Dean hissing through the phone. "Sammy, I can't just sit here with my thumb up my ass while Cass could be in trouble, so just track the damn phone and call me when you have something."

Sam feels a twinge of shock at how Dean is acting. _I mean, I expected something bad but I didn't expect this… _He thinks. "Dean? Dean!" He says aloud, but he realizes that Dean hung up already. "Ugh."

Dean hangs up the phone, wanting to get out of that conversation as soon as possible. _Maybe I should try contacting an angel… No, that's a dumb freakin' idea, those God Squad dicks would probably hunt him down and kill him themselves._

He tries to shake off his worry, trying to convince himself that Cass is fine but it doesn't really work, Cass is human now, no angelic mojo to fall back on if he gets in trouble. The thought in his head that he just can't get rid of, is the thought that Cass is already… _No. I can't think about that. I just can't._ He pushes the thought away, expelling it from his head.

_The first place to check would be… The Gas-N-Sip! Maybe Nora or someone else there knows where he scampered off to. _He decides against just checking out all the warehouses in the area because it would take far too long and any warehouse he checks could have no signs of Cass. He can't waste time futilely searching them looking for a dropped phone that ain't even there.

_No. It's best to figure out what the hell happened before he called me._ He eases the keys into the ignition, then begins driving, his head full of worry, doubt and a million other emotions he's too preoccupied to root through. He needs full, one hundred percent focus on finding his friend.

He arrives at the Gas-N-Sip, steps out of the car and immediately spots Nora behind the counter, just going about her business. _Her day is about to get real fun. _He walks in and the bell above the door rings. Nora looks up from the counter, narrowing her eyes, recognizing him but not knowing exactly why. He assumes she spotted him with Cass at some point.

"Is Ca-" He pauses, taking a second to remember his alias. "Steve here?" She eyes him, still clearly trying to figure out where she knows him from. "Who's asking?" She asks, her eyes scanning his face.

"Just a friend of his." He says, watching the realization click in her head. "Oh, well, he's off today, but he does usually stop in to check if I need help, bless him." She says and he sees her smile fondly when talking about Castiel. _Awesome, Cass, she is just awesome._

"Has he stopped by for a visit today?" Dean asks, watching her carefully. "No… Wait, why? Is he in trouble or something?" She asks, clearly nervous at his questions. "No, no, uh, see, we were supposed to go camping this weekend but he turned off his phone so I haven't been able to reach him." He says, quickly making up an excuse.

"Oh, okay, in that case, I might have something… Yesterday, he said he was looking for someone and that if I saw a man with gray hair and a 'scribe's personality'," Nora says with air quotes. "I should lock the doors." _Metatron._

"Weird stuff, right?" She says, snapping him back to reality. "Yeah, yeah, well, thanks for all your help and uh, if Steve pops up, give me a call." He says, sliding a card with his number on it to her, giving her a wink. "Will do." She says, smiling. "Awesome." His phone rings. The caller ID reads _**Sam**_ "Gotta take this." He says, apologetically.

He walks out of the Gas-N-Sip, hearing the bell ring as the door close behind him, answering the phone. "Sammy? Tell me you got good news." He says, hopeful. "I managed to track the phone to an abandoned warehouse nearby, but…" Sam trails off.

"What, Sammy? Just spit it out." Dean says while walking to the Impala. He grabs his keys out of his pocket, unlocking the car then sliding behind the wheel. "The place is shady, Dean, real shady," Sam says. Dean gets a distinct feeling that Sammy is avoiding the point. "What do ya mean 'shady'?" He asks, tired of his tip-toeing around the issue.

"I mean, the place has angel warding, Devils Traps, these guys went all out," Sam says. "Then how the hell did Cass get in there?" He asks, not really expecting Sam to know. "I dunno, maybe they painted the sigils after Cass got in?" Dean just shakes his head.

"Alright, whatever, let's just grab that phone, what's the address?" He hears Sam hit a few keys on the other line. "I'll send you the address and meet you there," Sammy says. _No way in hell will Zeke like that. _"Uh, you know what Sam? I think I can handle this on my own." Dean says, realizing how stupid that sounds.

"What? No, you can't, Dean! And even if you could, this is Cass, I have to help, after all, he'd help if it was one of us." Sam says, shock lacing his voice. "I'm just sayin', Sammy, you should sit this one out." He says. _Sorry, Sam, I gotta keep you out of this and not just for your own sake. _He thinks, guessing that Zeke would be more than a little pissed at him if he let Sam come along.

"What the hell, Dean? Why would I sit this one out? This is Cass we gotta-" Sam is cut off by his next words. "No, Sam. I can handle this. Just give me the freakin' address." He can tell that Sam doesn't like it, not at all. "Fine. I'll text you the address." Then, Sam hangs up.

He gets the text with the address. He can tell that Sam is angry about being left out because his normal emoji texting style is thrown out the window. He pushes the key into the ignition and starts his car. The warehouse is about thirty minutes away from the Gas-N-Sip, seeing it's on the other side of the town.

He arrives at the old, broken down, abandoned warehouse. He steps out of the car, scanning the warehouse. _Why were you looking for Metatron here, Cass? Frigging angels, share with the damn class next time, Cass. _He thinks, silently cursing Castiel.

He walks into the building, not missing the Devils Traps painted on the floor or the angel warding glowing outside. _What's worth protecting here? _The place is in shambles, cracks line the walls and floors, broken glass, dust and other such things riddle the floor. There are rusted machines, old scaffolding, the full nine yards, lining the walls.

_Now, what kind of monsters use both angel warding and Devils Traps? They either want to keep something out or… _His thought process is cut off by a loud ringtone blaring, bouncing off the warehouse walls. _Cass._

He moves towards the sound, his heartbeat quickens, for no good reason. _It's just a damn phone, calm down._ He scolds himself. He peeks around the corner, searching for the phone and any demons or angels that are lurking around.

He spots the phone, ringing out. He gets closer, bends down and picks up the phone. Upon further inspection, the phone's screen is slightly cracked from where Cass dropped it, but the real kicker is the number. _**Sam.**_ He picks up the phone and answers it.

"Cass?" Sam's concerned voice speaks up on the other line. "Not quite, Sammy, missing a pair of wings and angelic grace," Dean says, grinning. "Well, so is Cass," Sam says, successfully shutting the both of them up. "Is he there, Dean?" Sam asks, breaking the silence. "Don't you think if he was here I would have told you?" Dean says, obviously pissed off.

Sam just hangs up, not saying a word. _Yeah, he's pissed at me. _He sighs, deciding to search the area around the phone, walking around a large piece of rusted machinery and his heart drops like a rock, there's a puddle of blood on the ground.

There are some bloody footprints on the ground with matching drag marks to boot. _Damn it. _He follows the footprints and the drag marks to the road. He tries to calm himself down, realizing that if there are drag marks, likely, Cass is still alive.

_They would have just left his body where they stabbed him if they had killed him, no, they must need him for something, please tell me they need him for something. _That silent prayer goes out and he decides to make an actual one.

"Alright, listen up you feathered douchebags, Dean Winchester here, this one goes out to all of you wingless angels, someone has Cass and I know you want him too, so, I'm prepared to make a little deal, if one of you God Squad dicks gets their ass over here, we can talk! Meet me at the Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems in Kansas. You have a day." He shouts to the heavens, hoping one of those damn angels decides to use their special little angel radio.

_Now, while the God Squad factions fight it out over who's coming to my hospital party, I can focus on finding Cass. I'm definitely going to need a few cases of beer for this one._

He takes a look around, scanning for any possible security cameras or traffic cameras, of course, because that's just his luck, there are none in the area. _Damn it, Cass, couldn't you get abducted in a nice hotel with lots of cameras? _He thinks, bringing his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

_There's not much more I can do, except wait. I'm sorry, Cass._ He walks back to the Impala, opens the door, hops in the car and drives off, silently praying that Cass is okay.

She hears the scream, the sound is deafening as it pierces the air. She feels a vibration through her bones, a whisper in her mind, she knows something is wrong. The noise in her head starts as a whisper _Seraphina, Seraphina, Seraphina. _Then, as if it is a chant, it grows, louder and louder until her head is filled with the ringing sound of her own name. _Sera! _It shouts in the last gasp of the voices breath.

The voice screaming in her head must have been Castiel. _Oh, dear Castiel, what happened? _She sees images flying through her head, Castiel must be sending them somehow, it all happens in a matter of moments.

She sees two human males, one of them is exceptionally tall, with longer hair, the other is slightly shorter, older looking, years of pain and torment have scarred his face, all but invisible to the naked eye, but she can see every year that he wears on that face, far too many for his actual age, she guesses.

She sees images of these two men with Castiel, in some of the images they are smiling, not just the human males, but Castiel as well, she can feel his smile in the images, even though all the images are from his perspective. _Castiel? Smiling? Finally._ She shakes off the thought and another takes its place, a much more worrying, terrifying thought. _Why were you screaming? Why were you trying to contact me this way, Castiel? Dear brother, is this a cry for help or a message? Tell me, please! _She thinks, however, she gets no response.

She feels loneliness pour over her, she misses Castiel a great deal, ever since she heard that Castiel is alive, she has been patiently waiting for him to return to Heaven, he may have killed a few angels, but must still be the kind, caring, gentle and loyal angel she remembers him to be. She is certain that he is still Castiel, her Castiel.

She is standing outside of a 'Gas-N-Sip' one of the stranger places she has seen in her adventures with humanity, living amongst them as a free angel, however, not really, truly free in any meaning of the word. The so-called Gas-N-Sip is a certain downgrade from the Armories of Heaven she guarded for thousands of years before… Well, that's unimportant.

She sees more images, the images are from Castiel's viewpoint. In almost every image she sees those humans, over and over, she eventually learns that their names are Sam and Dean, Sam being the giant with the long hair and Dean being the shorter of the two, with more of a… Well, rugged sort of look.

_Why am I seeing these images? Please, Castiel, explain. Dear Castiel, please! Speak to me! _There is no response. _Castiel, you must be in true trouble, oh please, hold on. _She thinks. Suddenly her vision clears and she sees a human male watching her from his automobile. _Er, car._ She corrects herself, learning that humans do not use such archaic language anymore.

She desperately tries to contact Castiel, using all the extra energy she can muster to communicate with him, however, she can't seem to get through to him, she slumps against the wall of the building, exhaustion taking over. The already weakened grace inside her can't handle trying to reach another angel this way.

A human male is eyeing her with a perverted gaze, she looks at him blankly, trying to decide what to do about this particular situation, the human looks very disheveled, a messy, knotted - by the looks of it - beard, what she has learned is a common 'truck driver' hat lies on his head and she looks at him warily.

It has been months since the fall, ever since then she's been working very hard to learn about humans and fit in with them, however, after what she did in Heaven, angels have been searching for her.

Multiple factions have been on the hunt, some of them wish to cut off her head and keep it as a trophy, others wish to recruit her, for the purpose of doing the same thing to others of her family. _All of this is quite barbaric, brothers and sisters, angels cutting down angels, is this how far we've truly fallen?_ Just thinking about it makes her feel quite sick.

She realizes she's been staring at the human male this entire time, so much so that he begins making his way towards her, she's missed her wings dearly since the fall and this is one of the times where they would be most useful. She backs away into the alleyway on the side of the building, where they keep the dumpsters.

"Hey there, baby, I saw you watching me." Seraphina simply shakes her head. "I wasn't watching you in particular." She feels heavily uncomfortable as the man shuffles closer to her. "Well, maybe you knew somewhere how good this can be, sweetheart." The man says, inching even closer to her. She sees another man observing their interaction, the man wears a look of amusement.

"I think not. It would be best if you would just get out of my way." She says, trying to be as 'polite' as possible, knowing that being kind or polite is part of the human way. "Aw, baby, come on, don't you wanna spend a little time with me?" He says, their faces are now barely a foot apart.

As he attempts to lean in, she knees him in the stomach. "You bitch!" He yells at her, she knows what this word means, however, she hasn't grasped how to use obscenities like this one. He grabs her wrist, whipping her around.

She throws a punch which lands right on his face, she hears a distinct crack coming from the man's nose, she breaks his hold on her wrist and gathers up the front of his shirt in her hand. "If you ever touch me again I'll do much more than break your nose." She says, pushing him to the ground as he scampers away. "You crazy bitch!" He yells, before getting into his truck.

She looks around and suddenly realizes the man who was observing their combat is gone. _That's strange._ She thinks, idly. She turns around and the man is standing directly behind her. "Hello, Seraphina." He says, in a very sophisticated tone. "What's the matter, don't you recognize me, dear?" The man says with a malicious grin spreading over his face.

She growls. It took her a moment, but she recognizes the angel in that human vessel. "Raziel." She says. His vessel has brown hair - which has been excessively styled - stormy gray eyes and a crooked nose. His vessel is far taller than hers, which could be a problem, she decides.

He claps, that devilishly evil smile still plastered on his face. "Glad you remember me, darling," Raziel says, eyes scanning her new vessel, possibly looking for a hidden weapon. "I never took you for the type to take your anger out on humans." He says with a chuckle. "What are you doing here, Raziel?" She asks. The anger in her voice is very pronounced.

"I'm here to take you to Bartholomew." Raziel's smile never dissipates, not even for a second. "Then this is another mission to add to the long list of your failures, Raziel." She says, waiting for his angry response and sure enough, his eyes flash and the smile disappears for a second.

She feels a small smile twist her lips just before he picks her up by the throat. "Listen to me, Seraphina, there are two ways we can do this, you can come willingly or you can kick, scream and fight, oh, Father, I am praying it's the latter." He says, tightening his grip on her throat. "So, what's it going to be?" She slips the angel blade out from her back pocket and drives the knife straight through his chest or at least she tries too.

Raziel grabs her wrist, chuckling. "Oh, come on, Sera, did you really think that would work?" He says, teasing her with a grin on her face. "No big brother to save you now, Seraphina." She feels anger flare in her chest. "Don't you dare speak about Castiel." She snaps at him. "Aw, sensitive little baby." He says in a mocking tone.

Raziel is very different from other angels, he's spent far too much time with demons being the resident torture expert. Their disgusting personalities have rubbed off on him. She remembers every time he tortured her, every time he used Castiel against her, every single time she broke and barely managed to put herself back together.

"How about this? You drop all your weapons, come with me and I won't hunt down your dear Castiel." He says, licking his lips hungrily. "I'll make sure his death is prolonged and of course, you can watch." She's used to his cruelty, she had to deal with his sadism for years in Heaven, just like all the other prisoners.

She spits in Raziel's face, he simply chuckles. "So, the fun way it is." He tosses her to the ground and promptly kicks her in the stomach. The kick sends her rolling on the hard concrete. He grabs her by the hair and pulls an angel blade down her back

She screams as the blade is pulled across her skin. She sees the light of her grace shining out of the wound on her back. "You still have your grace? So, you're not following in our disgraced brother's footsteps? Intriguing, Sera." Raziel says, lightly dragging the cool metal across her face, not quite cutting it. Yet.

"Only Castiel is allowed to call me Sera." She manages, trying to break Raziel's grip with all of her strength, but because of his stronger vessel and the fact that he's not weakened from months on the road, he keeps his grip on her hair, which is not an easy feat by any means, but he manages it.

"Castiel is a disgrace to all angels, he caused the fall, you naive child," Raziel says, crouching down so he can make eye contact with her while still keeping his grip on her hair. "Even though he caused the fall, even though he's made mistakes, even though he's killed other angels while playing God, he's still more honorable than you, Raziel!" She shouts in his face, anger taking hold. Her time on Earth has made her much more emotional.

He stabs her in the arm with the angel blade, making her cry out. "Watch. Your. Mouth." He says, spitting in her face. He hauls her up, she fights against him, kicking, screaming, trying anything she can to get him to let go.

He suddenly gets distracted, whispering something with his back facing her. _He's getting a message from another angel!_ She realizes with a start. He still hasn't taken the angel blade out of her arm. She slowly brings her hand up to the wound and pulls the angel blade out, attempting to mortally wound him.

However, he turns around, so she misses, pushing the blade all the way through his arm until she feels it pierce the skin just over his ribs, she basically just kabobbed him. In the shock and pain, he loses concentration just long enough for her to break his grasp and run for it.

She moves around to the back of the building, running as far away as possible, knowing she would look insane to the average passerby, she tries to stay out of sight, just in case any human came around the back, figuring it would be fairly difficult to explain why heavenly light is pouring out of her back and shoulder.

She covers the wound on her shoulder with her hand, she attempts to heal it, yet, nothing. She tries once more before realizing her grace is too weakened to do that. She must have wasted it trying to reach out to Castiel. _Foolish move on my part. _She scolds herself, silently.

She searches around for an automobile, looking for a way to get the hell out of the area before Raziel finds her. The Gas-N-Sip was a little in the middle of nowhere, some backroad in the middle of a place named Utah.

She runs down the road as fast as she can, sometimes checking over her shoulder to make sure Raziel isn't right there. She runs into the forest by the side of the road, staying as close to the road as she can without being able to be spotted from the road.

She crouches behind a particularly large rock, taking a look at her arm, where there's light from her grace still pouring out. _I have to cover this somehow._ She thinks, feeling sick and weak. The light from the injuries on her back is slightly covered by her shirt.

She falls into a sitting position, her back pressed against the rock, keeping the light from spilling out. She leans around the rock and sees Raziel, obviously angry, holding his open wounds. "Seraphina!" He calls out in a melodic tone. "Oh, Seraphina!" Once again he calls out in the mocking, sing-song tone.

She holds her breath, panic overtaking her. That's when she hears it, clear as a bell over the frequency her brothers and sisters use to communicate. "_Alright, listen up you feathered douchebags, someone has Cass and I know you want him too, so, I'm prepared to make a little deal, if one of you God Squad dicks gets their ass over here, we can talk! Meet me at the Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems in Kansas. You have a day."_

_Cass, as in Castiel? _Her heart skips a beat. _I knew it! Castiel _is _in trouble! _She sees Raziel running back down the road, leaving. _He must've heard the message as well._ She waits for a few minutes after Raziel leaves to start moving again.

She wanders down the road for what seems like forever but upon checking the time device on her wrist - apparently, it's called a watch - she realizes it has only been about thirty minutes. She is about ready to fall over, her wound has slowed her down and tired her out, without the adrenaline of the human body, she starts to feel exhausted and weak, when finally, lo and behold, she spots a car on the side of the road.

A human male stands outside of a car, taking a look under the hood, after a few seconds he lets out a frustrated groan and starts to dial a number on his portable communications device. She takes a second, trying to remember what humans call it. She gives up after a few seconds.

The man's back is turned to her, so she quickly makes a decision and a plan. She sneaks up behind him out of the trees, she could be easily spotted by anyone down the road, so she moves as quickly as possible.

"Yeah, she's a beauty, brand new 2011 Honda Civic. I haven't had a problem with her since I got her, then, just a few minutes ago, her engine sputtered and I had to pull over! She won't start now!" The man says into the device pressed up against his ear. "Yeah, I'm on some back road, I think the name of it is-" His voice is cut off by her grabbing him, and putting a hand over his mouth.

He drops his device as she takes him down to the ground with one well-placed kick to the back of his kneecaps. She grabs his head and slams it into his automobile, knocking him out. "I'm sorry, human, I just simply needed transportation." She fumbles for a few seconds, searching for keys to this automobile.

She picks up the phone and dials the emergency number she saw in the Gas-N-Sip. "911, what's your emergency?" The voice on the other end says. "Someone is passed out here on the ground! There are no cars in sight! Please come quickly!" Seraphina says, dropping the phone, holding the line open.

"Ma'am! Ma'am, where are you?" She hears the woman on the other end of the phone saying, panic in her voice. She opens the front door and slips in the car, behind the wheel. She puts the keys in the ignition, but before she starts the car, she searches for a map. She finds one open on the back seat.

She feels a twinge of guilt for how she attacked that human, he didn't deserve that... _Sometimes desperation takes over. _She silently apologizes to the human, once again. She searches for Mitchell County, Kansas and realizes the hospital is in a city called Beloit. She realizes how far Utah is from Beloit, it may take her hours without her wings.

_I have to make it in time, because if Castiel is…. If he's dead, everything I ever did for him was pointless. Don't worry, older brother, I'll find you._ She makes a silent promise to him and starts the car.

Sam hangs up on Dean, he sits in the bunker, he feels pretty pissed off at him. _I've recovered from the Trials, why the hell can't I just help?! _He thinks, angrily. _Dean's been acting like an ass ever since he heard about Cass._ He silently shakes his head.

Kevin sits across from him, nervously fidgetting. He's told Sam on many occasions that he hates it when he and Dean argue. _Of course, I hate it too, but what am I supposed to do? Dean is just a jerk sometimes. _

"Sam, I have a question," Kevin says, with not even a shred of confidence in his voice. "Shoot," Sam says, idly skimming one of his demonology books, not really expecting to find anything new but needing something to take his mind off of Dean and Cass.

"Why don't we just ask Crowley?" Kevin asks, tentatively. Sam had filled him in about what's happening with Cass. "Crowley's been outta the game for months, doubt he'll know anything," Sam says, turning the next page in his book. "Still, he might know something and even if he doesn't, it's worth a shot," Kevin says. Sam looks up at him, debating this option in his head.

"Alright, then." He says, running his fingers through his hair. They walk through the old room towards the dungeon doors, they move the racks in front of the doors and open them. Crowley is sitting there, smug as ever. "Hello, Moose," Crowley says with a grin. "Crowley," Sam responds.

"You brought Kevin this time too! How thoughtful, you know I love prophet blood." Crowley says with that annoying grin on his face. "Shut it, Crowley," Sam says as Kevin backs away. "How rude, Moose, I'll have to call your Mommy, oh wait she's dead," Crowley says. Sam growls and has to fight the urge to pummel Crowley into oblivion.

"What do you know about any active angels or demons who might wanna grab an angel?" He says, watching Crowley, studying him as intently as he would a book. "It depends on the angel, as you must know." Sam nods slowly. "Wait a moment… An angel? Don't tell me someone grabbed your little guard pigeon, Castiel?" Crowley says, chuckling. Sam's eyes just flick down to the floor.

"Someone did! Well, I suppose it was bound to happen sometimes, our dear Cass does have a surprising knack for angering all the wrong people." Crowley says. That smug grin back on his face. Sam wants to punch him, wants to kill him, but he knows that Crowley is useful, at least for the moment.

"Crowley, just tell us what you know." Sam spits out. "Actually, I'd bet good money you don't know a thing, you have been outta the game." Sam glares, staring daggers at Crowley. "And who's fault is that?" Crowley asks, winking. "Crowley, you know the second you lose your usefulness, I will kill you," Sam says, putting both hands on the table, leaning over him.

"Aw, I care about you too, Moose," Crowley says in an overly sweet tone. Sam turns and starts to walk away. "Wait, Moose, you can't just lock up and leave me here again," Crowley says, even with his mask of confidence, a little fear leaks through. "Sure I can," Sam says, before slamming the doors of the dungeon behind him.

Dean had arrived at the hospital about thirty minutes ago, deciding to visit a random patient, waiting for an angel to show up. He thinks about maybe calling Sam, though, Sammy would probably yell at him for doing something he would call stupid.

He sits in a chair next to the bed of a patient by the name of Deborah Macklin, who's in a coma. "Man, being in a coma would suck." He says to her, idly wondering how she got into this situation. He finally decides to call Sam, even though he knows Sammy is pissed at him. He waits, letting the phone ring, after a few rings Sam picks up.

"Yeah, Dean?" Sam says, his voice sounds very devoid of emotion. "I mighta screwed up, Sam, I think it'll help us find Cass, but I mean, the way I'm doing it isn't awesome." He says, shaking his head slowly. "Dean, what did you do?" Sam says in a harsh tone.

"I might've sent out a bat signal to the angels." Sam exhales slowly on the other end. "So, basically, what you're saying, is that you sent out a prayer for help to angels who want to find and kill Cass, great idea, Dean!" Sam shouts into the end, anger building in his voice. "What else was I supposed to do?!" Dean says, trying to keep his cool as much as possible. "I dunno, asked me first? Allowed me to be a part of this?!" Sam says, obviously even more pissed off than before.

"Sam, you still need to rest up! The Trials took a lot out of you and-" He is cut off by Sam. "Who cares, Dean?! Cass needs our help, so whether or not you like it, I'm going to come and help." There's a silence, it lasts for about ten seconds. "Fine," Dean says quietly. Suddenly there's a change in Sam's voice.

"Dean, you cannot let Sam search for Castiel, that will spell death for all of us," Zeke says, cold and unfeeling like always. "What am I supposed to do, Zeke? I ain't gonna be able to stop him and believe me, I tried, I tried pretty damn hard." He spits out. "Zeke, listen, we probably won't even be seeing Cass." He says, trying to appeal to him. "But we'll be in close proximity to other angels, they will know me, Dean."

"Zeke, you know how strong willed my little brother is, you've been in that melon of his, so you know what I'm facing here," Dean says, hoping Zeke will come around. "That is correct, he is a very strong minded individual, so I will allow him to go with you, however, as soon as an angel comes around…" Zeke says, trailing off. "Sammy's getting the hell outta Dodge," Dean says, finishing his sentence. "Glad we have come to acceptable terms, Dean Winchester," Zeke says, before retreating back into Sam.

"Good, now where are you, Dean?" Sam says, sounding like himself again. "God, this is gonna give me whiplash." He mutters under his breath. "What?" Sam asks, sounding confused. "Uh, nothing, I'm at the Mitchell County Health System or whatever the hell it's called." He says, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, I'll be there in about thirty minutes," Sam says. "How, dude? You got no car." Dean says, still watching the patient, the steady rise and fall of her chest. "I'll take a cab then, man." Dean just bursts out laughing, he has no idea why, maybe it's all the damn stress, maybe he's just a psycho.

"Uh, dude, you're scaring me," Sam says, sounding uneasy. "All of this is pretty damn ridiculous," Dean says, chuckling. "Uh… I guess so?" Sam says, sounding more worried by the second. "Listen, man, this ain't gonna be a trip to Disneyland," Dean says, coming down off his high of laughter.

"Well, it's not like we were holdin' out hope for a vacation any time soon," Sam says, slight humor creeps into his voice. "Yeah, I guess not," Dean says, there's a long pause, neither of them says anything, but there's a silent agreement.

"I gotta go if I wanna be there before an angel beats me to it," Sam says, all the humor sucked out of his voice, replaced with a lousy tone that he guesses Sam means to be comforting… It's not.

"Yeah, I'm guessing those feathered bastards are hauling ass to get over here right now," Dean says, giving his best guess. "Probably," Sam says before they both go silent again. "On my way now," Sam says, just before he hangs up. Dean slides the phone into his pocket.

Sam arrives at the hospital about forty minutes later, by that point, Dean had left Deborah Macklin's room and was sitting out in the main waiting room. He spots Sam as soon as he walks in, hard to miss a giant like his little brother.

Sam comes into the waiting room and sits down in one of the uncomfortable chairs right next to Dean. "No luck with the angels?" Sam asks, watching the door. "Not yet," Dean answers, also keeping his eyes peeled for anyone who looks super uncomfortable.

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Sam finally speaks. "Why the hospital?" Sam asks, eyes still fixated on the door. "I don't know, just figured no one would look too closely at a few angels in a hospital," Dean says, shrugging. "Okay then," Sam says and then, the silence returns.

Dean awakens from his slumber, he realizes he's sitting in the hospital chairs still. Sam is nowhere to be found. He checks the clock on the wall and realizes it's 11:30 in the morning. _What the hell?_ Dean thinks, still feeling groggy and exhausted, he rubs his eyes.

Sam comes back into the waiting room, carrying two cups of hospital coffee. "Here," Sam says, handing him one of the cups. "Thanks," Dean replies, taking a sip of the coffee. The coffee is frankly awful, but at the very least, it wakes him up…

"No angels have shown up yet," Sam says, rubbing his eyes. "I've been checking around, showing my face, hoping some angel would pop up and let us know," Sam says, shaking his head, collapsing on the chair next to Dean.

"Ugh, I need to go outside and get some fresh air." He says, feeling like he has a hangover, though, he didn't actually drink anything last night. He definitely thought about grabbing a six pack and chugging it, but he didn't.

"Alright," Sam says, yawning. "I'm gonna get some sleep." Dean stares at him for a few seconds. "Did you not sleep last night, man?" Dean asks, a little worried. "Not much," Sam answers, his eyes slipping closed. "Come on, Sammy, you gotta take better care of yourself." He says, shaking his head.

"Just go get that fresh air, dude," Sam says, wiggling a bit in the chair. "Yeah, yeah," Dean says, making his way outside. He sits outside, staring up at the cloudy sky. He sits there for about thirty minutes, just watching the cars roll by, people come up, he hears the blaring of ambulances, but somehow, he's found a bit of peace.

He decides to walk away from the hospital, going to 'clear his head' or whatever the hell Sammy does to fix his emotional problems. He walks down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets, until, in the tree line, he sees smoke, the normal person wouldn't have been able to spot it, however, Dean is everything but normal.

He slides down the hill into the foresty patch and sees a car, a 2011 Honda Civic, crashed into a tree, with a strange light coming out of it. _This is kinda familiar… Cass?_ He thinks, hopefully. He rushes to the car, pulling open the door, but he sees a woman, she has blonde, disheveled hair, pale skin and dirty clothing that looks like it's been worn thousands of times over without being washed, but the most noticeable thing is the massive cuts on her back, but they aren't bleeding, they're glowing with an ethereal light.

_She's an angel._ He thinks, millions of thoughts running through his head. After a few moments, he decides to remove the angel from the wreckage. There isn't much smoke, so the car is probably fine, however, they should haul ass outta there, just in case.

He looks down at the angel and a sickening thought crosses his mind. _Grab your angel blade and kill her now, while she's helpless._ The voice hisses in the back of his head, he feels sick just for thinking it and pushes the thought away.

He pulls her away from the crash site, over to the hill he slid down to get to her. He props her up against the hill and shakes her shoulders, attempting to wake her up. Her eyes eventually slide open. She gasps, jumping up and sliding an angel blade out of her back pocket. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, cool it!" He shouts.

She gasps. "Wait… You're Dean Winchester!" The angel says, putting the blade away. "That's the name, don't wear it out." He says, watching her. Bright blue eyes stare back at him, so familiar. _Even though you grab different humans, all of you friggin' angels look alike._

"I saw you in Castiel's memories, he's very fond of you." She says, looking him up and down almost like she's studying him. "Sorry, did you just say you saw me in Cass's memories?" Dean asks, incredulous. "Yes." She says like it's the simplest thing in the world. "I'm Seraphina." The angel says, extending a hand.

He looks at her extended hand. "Is this not how humans greet each other?" She asks. "I mean, yeah, it is." He takes her hand and shakes it warily. "Why are you here?" He asks, watching her. "For Castiel." She says, her cold blue eyes soften when saying his name. "You plannin' on hunting him down?" Dean asks, finding the angel blade he placed in the waistband of his jeans.

He grips the hilt of the angel blade tightly. "If you're implying that I would hurt him, the answer is no. He's my brother, I would never hurt a hair on his head, the only reason I am here searching for him is that I want to save him from the crueler of our species." She says, so sincerely that he can't help but believe her.

He slowly nods. "Listen, Dean Winchester, you cannot summon angels as you have, we must leave here immediately." She says, locking eyes with him, bright blue on piercing green. "Who says I trust you?" He asks. "You probably should not, but there is an angel named Raziel and if he catches up with you, trusting me will be the least of your problems."

He considers this for a second. "Fine, we'll haul ass outta here, but you're still glowing a bit there, Seraphina." He says, noticing the increase in light from her wounds. "Ugh, yes indeed, an angel caught up with me and the outcome was less than desirable."

"An angel did this to you? And here I thought my family was bad." He says. She chuckles, it's a small chuckle, but it's there. "From what I've seen, Dean Winchester, your family is much better than mine." She says, sounding sincere. "By the way, you can just call me Dean." He says, offering a small smile. Suddenly he realizes he forgot about Sammy.

He quickly grabs his phone, dialing Sam's number. Sam picks up immediately. "Dean! What the hell, man? Are you okay?" Sam says, sounding worried. "I'm sorry, but Sam, I found one of our God Squad members," He says. "I did too, one of them finally showed up," Sam says. Dean can almost feel the exhaustion emanating from his little brother.

"Great, I guess we'll have a whole group of angels and humans, why don't we just go on vacation to the Grand Canyon?" Dean says, laughing, feeling exhausted as all hell. Seraphina is next to him, leaning in to hear the conversation.

"What is this angel's name?" She asks. He turns his head so that he can look at her properly. "Uh, Sammy, the angel on my shoulder wants to know what your angel's name is." He says. "The angel's name? His name is Raziel, I think." Sam says. Dean gives Seraphina a worried look.

"Don't tell me… It's Raziel, isn't it?" He nods slowly, answering her question with just one movement. "Alright, Sam, you gotta get the hell out of there, now." He says, worry building in his chest. "Wait, what? Why?" Sam asks, sounding confused and shocked, which he has every right to be. "No time to explain, just do it, Sam." He says, quickly making his way up the hill. "Okay, I'll try." Suddenly the call drops.

"Damn it!" He says. "Dean! Wait up!" Seraphina says, stumbling while trying to get up the hill. "Who the hell is this Raziel guy anyway?" He asks, helping her up the hill. "Your worst nightmare, he's one who did this to me and he's done much to worse to humans, angels, and demons. Raziel is the angel equivalent of Alastair."

Dean's head snaps up on these words. "We gotta get to Sammy right now." He says. "Yes, your brother is in considerable danger, Dean." She says. "Hey, you're not coming, Doctor Light," He says. "Get to my car." He says, tossing the keys to her. "Do you know what it looks like?" He asks, not wanting to explain this right now.

"Yes, I've seen it in Castiel's memories, apparently, the car harbors many good memories for him." She says. He barely waits for her to finish her sentence before taking off towards the hospital.

He runs up to the doors of the hospital, pushing his way into the waiting room, Sam is nowhere to be found. He walks up to the counter to talk to the nurse there. "Excuse me, have you seen my brother? He's about yea high," Dean says, raising a hand above his head. "With long hair and stubble." He says. The nurse nods.

"I saw him go outside, normally I wouldn't notice, but you both had been here so long…" The nurse says. "No, I get it, thank you." He says, hurrying outside, he searches around the hospital until he sees a flash of light coming from behind the building.

He rushes to the back of the building. "Sammy? Sam?!" He shouts, running as fast as he can. He sees a man with dark hair bleeding light and Sam is standing across from him, another angel dead at his feet. "Oh, both of the Winchesters are here! What a treat!" The angel says, grinning.

"I'm guessing you're Raziel. I gotta say, man, you're not as handsome as Alastair, but I'm told you're just as sadistic." He says, taunting the angel, matching Raziel's grin with his own. "You would know, wouldn't you?" Raziel says, laughing, a cruel fire in his eyes.

Dean growls a deep, low growl. "Listen, Winchester boys, all I want is to find that pathetic excuse for an angel named Castiel, so, why don't we just help each other?" Dean exchanges a look with Sam. "Sorry, Razi, not in the mood to die, you know how it is," Dean says, laughing a little.

Raziel laughs, the sound makes his skin crawl. "Ooh, Winchesters, I didn't know you were harboring yet another angel runaway! Seraphina, dear, join us." The angel says, staring at the space behind Dean. He turns around and sees Seraphina walking forward.

"I told you to get to the car." He whispers as she walks past him. "Aw, Sera, you don't look good." Raziel says, walking over to her, putting a hand on her cheek. She punches him in the stomach.

He stumbles back in surprise. She leaps on him, punching, kicking and yelling. "You tortured me!" She shouts at the top of her lungs, she just keeps yelling, Dean hears every time her fists connect with Raziel's face.

Raziel summons strength that Dean didn't realize the angel had, managing to toss Seraphina off him, into the wall. Dean grabs his angel blade and charges Raziel, he dodges the first strike, knocking the blade out of Dean's hands. Sam, who had been watching everything, looking confused as all hell, charges Raziel, knocking him to the ground.

Dean picks the angel blade back up as Raziel tosses Sam off of him just like he did with Seraphina. "Sam!" Dean shouts. He only gets a moment before he has to shift his attention back to Raziel, who isn't even looking at him, he's looking at Seraphina.

He moves towards her, Sam is about fifteen feet away from her. "Seraphina, I should have killed you earlier, but I suppose that's what will make this that much sweeter." He picks up his own angel blade and brings it down, luckily, Seraphina moves out of the way just before it can hit her, kicking him to the ground.

"Run!" Seraphina shouts. Dean runs over to Sam and helps him up. The three of them take off, running to the Impala. "Seraphina, keys, now!" He shouts, she tosses the keys at him, he fumbles and drops them, he picks them up as quickly as possible and opens his car door, quickly starting the car, Sam hops in the front passenger seat and Seraphina jumps in the back.

He sees Raziel running towards them, glowing with an ethereal light. He backs up and drives out of the hospital parking lot with an angel in his backseat, which sounds like the start of a bad joke. He drives until the hospital is out of sight. _When did this become my life? _He thinks, looking in the side mirror, he tries not to think about it anymore and just drives.

Castiel awakens to light streaming in from the roof. His wrists are chained above his head. The room he's being held in is dark except for the grate covered circular hole in the roof. His head hurts and his throat feels dry. _Being human is very inconvenient. _He thinks.

His trench coat is gone, as well as his blazer, leaving him with just his white button-up shirt, his tie, and his black suit pants. He thinks back to when he was captured, he had been grabbed by one of his siblings, one of Bartholomew's soldiers.

That soldier had grabbed him before he even finished talking to Dean. _Dean, who is probably very angry with me, however, I don't blame him, I did cause the fall. _He thinks, berating himself. _Another mistake. _Suddenly the door across the room is pulled open and an angel walks in.

"Hello, Castiel." The angel says, it takes Castiel a second but he recognizes the angel. "Malek." Malek looks slightly surprised. "I didn't think you would recognize me, Castiel," Malek says. "I don't forget my brethren very easily, Malek." He says, eyeing Malek. "Why are you following Bartholomew, Malek? You were a good soldier." He says, genuinely curious.

"It is all a little different when one of your kind causes the downfall of all angels, Castiel." When Malek says his name, he spits it out, almost as if it is a nasty, forbidden word. "I did not mean for it to happen." He says, trying to make his brother see the truth. "I highly doubt that, but even if it was true, it is not the road to Heaven that is paved with good intentions, brother," Malek says, slight anger arising in his voice.

"I am aware, Malek, but you must understand, I didn't have any prior knowledge of Metatron's plans." He says, but it's almost as if he is trying to make a brick wall see reason. "We've all lost our wings, Castiel, and you? You've turned into nothing more than a pathetic little ant like the rest of them." Malek says, turning his back on him.

"As I have come to realize, Malek, as you will also soon realize, not all ants are pathetic or insignificant, some ants are braver than you or I," Castiel says, just before Malek slams the door shut, leaving Castiel alone, chained and just a little bit afraid.


End file.
